IRAQ Fuel truck explosion kills nine

The head of the military's supply department was killed in a drive-by shooting.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A suicide bomber in a fuel truck blew it up early today at a police station in southwest Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding about 60 as the inferno engulfed civilians and officers waiting for their daily assignments, officials and witnesses said.
Later, the Defense Ministry said militants killed Essam al-Dijaili, the head of the military's supply department, in a drive-by shooting as he walked into his house in Baghdad.
Four gunmen drove up as al-Dijaili was carrying dinner into his home Sunday and opened fire, killing him and his bodyguard, said Mishal al-Sarraf, an adviser to the defense minister.
"He was killed in cold blood by the evil hands of the followers of the former regime," al-Sarraf said.
Attacks on officials
The assassination was the latest attack on senior Iraqi officials. Assailants killed the governor of Nineveh Province last week and tried unsuccessfully to assassinate the country's justice minister. They have also targeted police officers, accusing them of being collaborators with U.S. forces.
Reversing a decision by the former U.S.-led occupation authority, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi issued a decree reopening a controversial newspaper that had been closed by U.S. officials in March, sparking months of fighting between U.S. forces and fighters loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The weekly Al-Hawza was the mouthpiece of al-Sadr's "Sadrist" movement, routinely carrying his fiery sermons on its front page along with articles sharply critical of the U.S.-led occupation.
Allawi, himself a Shiite, ordered the paper reopened Sunday in an effort to show his "absolute belief in the freedom of the press," his office said in a prepared statement. The decree appeared designed to broaden Allawi's base of support as his government struggles for legitimacy.
The Philippines, meanwhile, said today that it has completed the withdrawal of its peacekeeping contingent from Iraq, meeting a demand by Iraqi insurgents threatening to behead a Filipino hostage but defying opposition from Washington.
The last members of the 51-strong force made an "exit call" on the new Polish commander at their base in Hillah, south of Baghdad, then waved as they left in six cars.
Iraqi police said the final contingent of troops drove over the border into Kuwait in a three-car convoy about 4:55 p.m.
Foreign Secretary Delia Albert said they would travel by road to Kuwait, a several-hour trip, then take a commercial flight home. They had been scheduled to leave Iraq on Aug. 20.
"Before the end of this day, all members of the Philippine humanitarian contingent will be out of Iraq," she said in a nationally televised statement.
Helicopter crash
Elsewhere, a British military helicopter crashed in the southern Iraqi city of Basra today, killing one crew member, the Ministry of Defense said.
Two other crew members were injured in the crash involving a Puma helicopter, the ministry said, adding that an investigation was under way.
A British military official in Basra said the support aircraft crashed on the runway in Basra.
It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash, but insurgents were not thought to have been involved, said Capt. Hasham Hallawi, spokesman for the British forces in Basra.
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